Create the next Gundam TV Series

[Mark-II]

AGE is over. Long live Gundam AGE.

But now's the time to start wondering about the next TC series to grace our fansubbed screens. What will it be about? Who will be the star pilot? How many Gundams will there be in it? And who would design them?

I'm throwing this out to all of us here - what would YOUR next Gundam TV series be like? There is only one rule: It can't be Universal Century.

Why not? Because it's the easiest and most common answer to these sorts of threads. What I'm looking for is what the Gundam fan wants to see in a series, and hopefully some scnarios to see them played out, and that it does NOT fall back on the "crutch" of being in the UC.

We're talking tabula rasa here, folks - tell us what you would like to see.

Mark-II

[Amion]

From what I understand, Bandai is planning to animate The Origin. and this seems like an interesting topic, and yet why do I have this sneaking suspicion it'll get locked?

Anywho, Right now I'm not particularly thrilled about what a new gundam show would be like. My mind is bent over my own projects, such as somehow devising a rewrite for AGE. Still, Some things I would prefer in the next series:

1. A main character with an active, functional family. Is it too much to ask for a dad who can be looked up to and a loving mother not obsessed with building MS or whatever her work entails? Apparently so, but I will still give Bandai yet another chance, since I really have no choice. Anyone else think two characters like this would be a bad Idea? I know that two parents would probably affect the development of our next angsty teenage psychic. So the parents direct involvement seems like it could make character development difficult, unless they are offed at some point.

2. New, fresh, enjoyable MS designs. I LOVED the Vagan MS, including one certain space lemon. I want designs that don't become UC rip-offs. To quote Rhamba Ral: "No Zaku, boy! No Zaku!"

3. Hm, what else *munches a chocolate bar thoughtfully* maybe more planetary bodies than just Earth and its rebellious colonies. I for one do not want to see anymore aliens this side of AOTT. But I do want more planets. AGE gave us a glimpse at Mars, and for that I was pleased. How and which of our nine planets (I'm still counting you, poor Pluto) are used, is up for debate.

4. I've read one of Shadowcel's fanfics, and liked the idea of a female protagonist. It would be nice to see this, just for a change, and because women react differently to circumstances, which I would like to see.

5. Hm, I can't think of anything else, so I'll just wait for others to voice their opinions.

But, considering what AGE turned out to be, I think (dare I even say it?) that whatever we get will be worth it, although I can foresee Bandai taking a small break to finish up Unicorn.

[Kei Katsuragi]

Wasn't there a similar thread after 00 ended called "What would you like to see in the next Gundam series?" that was closed, because of the epic quote war between ShadowCell and douchebag?

[Amion]

Wasn't there a similar thread after 00 ended called "What would you like to see in the next Gundam series?" that was closed, because of the epic quote war between ShadowCell and douchebag?

Epic quote war? Gasp! What started it? I was just worrying that this thread would become mindless listing without discussion, which I think is a shame.

By the way Kei, what do you think about my first point? I would like to see the main protagonist have a normal family life (at least until some goggled evildoer throws them in a capsule)

[Chris]

This can live... for now.

[Amion]

That sounds ominous. So really, what did start this quote war?

[Kei Katsuragi]

Not bad. I like the idea of a functional family. The prospect of a female protagonist has been thrown around to death, and I have never praticularly gravitated to it. Never been against it, but it always seems like a change for the sake of being contrarian. Also I was thinking of having Goro Taniguchi direct a Gundam series (who directed Infinite Ryvius, which would be an awesome Gundam setting), so moving out multiple planetary bodies doesn't seem so bad. It could make for some nice set pieces (one of the best battles, in my opinion, in the original Macross was the battle in the rings of Saturn). And, yes to unique mech designs. I adored Vagan designs, and loved the mech designs from 00. However, the last thread was locked because the thread turned into a wishlist thread and this poster TetraVal started a bunch of hubbaloo to which ShadowCell (and friends) barraged him to the point where Chris locked the thread because he said it was an eyesore.

[Mark-II]

I'm a veteran of the GML, we NEVER had quote wars in those days...

Obviously I don't want to have the thread closed as I think speculation is fun and submitting ideas for discussion is worthwhile, especially for a long-lasting franchise like Gundam. What I'd like to see:

1. A mixed-gender ensemble cast. Having one boy is fine, and four or five is GREAT for the fanfic lovers, but what I'd like to see is at least a couple female characters in the mix and getting just as much screen time as the guys. I understand this basically doesn't happen in anime, but most Star Trek shows had episodes that weren't just about its Captain, y'know?

2. A reason for Gundams to be Gundams. Prototypes, mythical significance, etc. Gundams should be special, and there should be a reason for them to be special. They shouldn't just be around for the other side to copy for the sake of copying the shape. We're looking at you, SEED...

3. Interesting bad guy designs. Gundam has actually done pretty well in this area in recent series, and I'd like this to continue. Still, IMO Vagan were a little TOO monsteriffic for my taste, and as a fan of military-style mecha I would like to see more of that in my antagonists.

4. Villains who change. Even if they're in the MS / MA of the week, we don't like cardboard cutout bad guys.

5. Consequences of war. Gundam usually does a good job of this too, but not always. Battles can scar an idealistic teenager. I want to explore what that means.

Mark-II

[Amion]

Oh dear.

Well, as far as a female protagonist is concerned, I threw that in mostly because I don't really care. I do not consider myself sexist, so...moving on.

I haven't seen Infinite Ryvius, but I'll check it out. So yay to the next show spreading the fighting throughout the Solar system.

Again, has-ah to knew designs. Why not a space apple next time? Or perhaps a grape shaped machine that releases the grapes to become spherical weapons of doom. But in all seriousness, knew designs are definitely in.

As far as the new director, I've been hearing rumors about Tomino creating a new UC show sat beyond Victory. I would be happy to receive this, but is it true?

I like your ideas Mark-II, for the most part. Although I understand why you dislike the Vagan MS, that's actually why I like them, so new designs will receive different receptions. The issue starts when Bandai decides that is a bad thing...Gotta sell them kits you know.

Definitely would like the side characters to get flushed out more, but I remember someone Japan-side saying that a marketing tool that has become popular is to have sidestories flesh out the support cast of the show, so more stuff can be sold. (Don't quote me on that though..)

What will make Bandai more money is the deciding, defining factor in all of this, from what I've picked up. My fear is that AGE's failure will afflict the model kits, and thus cause the decision-makers to go back to the tried and true.

[Kei Katsuragi]

If you are refereeing to G-Reko than no. Tomino has asserted it is not a Gundam project, but apparently it is in production.

[Amion]

If you are refereeing to G-Reko than no. Tomino has asserted it is not a Gundam project, but apparently it is in production.

Well darn.

And another point Mark-II made about the Gundams, I think they have stayed pretty close to making the Gundams special. One thing AGE cannot be blamed for is of course, having the Gundam a mythical figure in Flit's eyes. And 00 gave us the GN drives, though how they withstood hits is questionable.

[Soma Taozi]

Well I think people all know where I stand about female protagonists (want them rawwwr!)! And I used to think this would go without saying, but after Age...I would like to see a better female supporting cast at the very least. 00's, Seed's, and Destiny's were fine, but if those were the average, at the very least can some female characters go BEYOND average?

What I would like to see is a Gundam series a little more out-there. Age, 00, Seed, and Destiny were more or less inspired by previous Gundam series so can we try something new without relying on old tropes...

One of the things I liked about G-Gundam is just how crazy and insane it was (loved Allenby and Rain). It showed how far the series could reach and still be good (if a little stereotypical fighting anime-ish). I wouldn't be opposed to something along those lines...not copying the Gundam fights of course, but something new and refreshing. Maybe something along the lines of Escaflowne time period...something like that...

That is one of the reasons why I liked Turn A so much, it is because its time period wasn't really futuristic at first. It was like 1900s when the show first started....that and I loved how the characters were the core of the story in Turn A...which leads me to my next point...

Have a more character driven Gundam show, along the lines of Turn A, I know this isn't very likely at all, but hey! A girl can dream! I know many people might find it "boring" but I would love that to death if Gundam did that!

Lastly, I think all haros should be replaced by 3-toed sloths named Noah. They will constantly eat candy and other things, be ZOINKS awesome, and proceed to make every scene they are in 100x better.

[Kei Katsuragi]

Honestly I have never liked the idea of having the Gundams be some sort of mystical symbolic figure of something. I like Gundams to be weapons, and the characters piloting them have the real importance. Other than the sheer size of the Gundam roster, I did not mind the way they treated the Gundams in SEED as just weapons of war.

[halo1000]

This is always a topic that makes my head boil with hundreds of ideas, and never do i have a good way to flesh it out without my ideas sounding like the wishlist of a young fanboy.

I would love a series in the same kind of setting as Outlaw Star, humans away from earth would be very refreshing. I'd like to see a technology heavy series but not with the convenience of the AGE system churning out a new piece of kit whenever they need it; I want them to tune up and refit as much as possible (I'm looking at you Gundam Ez8) and make a point of how scarce or unaffordable new equipment is.

With that kind of setup you could have smaller scale battles that aren't a mess of random beam rifle blasts every which way; use shell firing weapons, make them more dangerous to pilots (0080) and have ammo reserves be an issue. A limited cast of say 10-15 named characters would do wonders for the character development dynamic also.

I'll leave it at that for the moment...

[Amion]

Have a more character driven Gundam show, along the lines of Turn A, I know this isn't very likely at all, but hey! A girl can dream! I know many people might find it "boring" but I would love that to death if Gundam did that!

Lastly, I think all haros should be replaced by 3-toed sloths named Noah. They will constantly eat candy and other things, be ZOINKS awesome, and proceed to make every scene they are in 100x better.

Amen to that. But seriously, Soma, I don't think a character driven Gundam show has to be devoid of action. I always felt Z and MSG did pretty good with the characters. Have a little less action scenes in the new show or maybe use them at the worst, and I'd think the characters would not drown in the violent explosions.

But, I would like to see something that is not set during the industrial revolution. Something Escaflowne, definitely, but not anything beyond, it would grate on me like nothing else would.

[Sume Gai]

My realistic wants for the next Gundam series are simple. I want there to be one and I want Sunrise to focus on planning and pacing this time round. Really the main trouble with 00S2 and AGE all boils down to those two factors, too much to do too little time.

Less realistically I want to see.
1) A focus on what it means to be solder, what is a solder's duty?: I really think that there's a lot to be said for this of late, especially as attitudes have shifted over the years especially for Gundam. I See a lot of people saying (mainly of Kira and Kio) a solder's job is to kill but I wonder if that's really true especially in the case of Mobile Suit combat.

2) A More positive view of the military: I really feel like Gundam should stop and take a few moments to show us more about why these various groups wind up being formed or left in power. I want it to show (not tell) what benefits say 'The Federation' affords say the common man.

3) Highly competent grunts on both sides: 00 got damn close to this and AGE was fairly good with the Vagan (though the Federation sometimes suffered as a result) and quite frankly I love it! It makes battles more interesting, Villains more threatening and Heroes less invincible, Give us more Sunrise!

[Vent Noir]

Off the top of my head, the only thing I can immediately think of that I really want is: Competent and interesting female characters who get a decent amount of focus in the show. Of course, I've gone on about that before (started entire threads over it), but AGE was particularly disappointing in that regard.

[Amion]

3) Highly competent grunts on both sides: 00 got damn close to this and AGE was fairly good with the Vagan (though the Federation sometimes suffered as a result) and quite frankly I love it! It makes battles more interesting, Villains more threatening and Heroes less invincible, Give us more Sunrise!

I couldn't agree more. One reason Wing and Seed are turn-offs for me is that the fighting is one-sided. A thing I remember AGE doing in the first arc was how everyone was pleased at how the Gafrans actually behaved as competent enemies. As for 00, it has been a while since I last saw it, although the Gundams were still pretty uber until the red GN drives showed up.

So, anyone have any predictions or educated guesses as to when a new Gundam show will be produced? A year, two years? Gasp....another long gap like we saw with Destiny and 00?

[bullethead]

Things I'd like to see:

1. An adult cast of competent characters, preferably with a female presence that isn't poorly written.

2. A story that moves beyond the Earth vs. Colonies, coming of age thing that most Gundam iterations have.

3. Gundams that are merely high performance units for ace pilots. No need to make them the near mythological figures that can only be beaten by other Gundams/plot hax.

4. An enemy with understandable motives and sympathetic soldiers who don't commit atrocities for no reason.

5. A decent sense of scope.

[DuelGundam2099]

Creating the next Gundam series in ten steps by that creepy Destiny fan with bizarre opinions ( ):

1. Get Go Nagai and Masami Obari on staff/involved in the story and mech designs; Obari and Kunio Okawara work together to make the titular gundam.

2. Get JAM Project for some awesome soundtracks.

3. Get Yoko Kanno and/or Maaya Sakamoto to fill in what JAM Project can't music wise.

4. Have a cast like Brave Command Dagwon: Everyone gets a mobile suit save for the captain and bridge crew and the main character gets the gundam. In part of this bring back classic non-gundam protag suits like Guncannon, Guntank, Hyaku Shiki, Methuss, Kapool, Moebius Zero, ZAKUs, GN Archer, etc.

5. Love interest also pilots a mobile suit; either have no romance at all or build it up enough to when it actually does there is pay off at the very end (like the main protag getting a lip kiss or getting some off screen).

6. Two main villains that consist of a fleshed out Char clone and his incredibly evil/total monster master. After some betrayal late in the series the Char clones joins the good guys and takes on the big bad in a super high performance mobile suit that lasts the entire last episode. At the height of the climax use either an opening theme or Ode to Joy.

7. No useless children.

8. No pointless fan service, not even a loyalty bonus.

9.

An enemy with understandable motives and sympathetic soldiers who don't commit atrocities for no reason.

^This

and 10. No epilogues. Seriously, save for X no series ever made a good/fitting one, so just don't have one at all.